


Kiss the Witch

by aflawedfashion



Category: Defiance (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Post-Series, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9336140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aflawedfashion/pseuds/aflawedfashion
Summary: After proving their value as lawkeepers, Berlin and Irisa celebrate and discuss who the fairy tale princess really should have kissed.





	

“That’s not how the story goes,” Irisa said, drunkenly swinging her legs over the side of the balcony, nearly falling into Berlin’s lap as her body moved in two different directions. If she were sober, she would be embarrassed by her uncharacteristic lack of coordination, but she wasn’t sober, and she wasn’t going to apologize for it.

Tonight was her night to be free, to let her guard down, to embrace her future. Tonight was hers to celebrate. Hers and Berlin’s.

They had finally solved a case that tortured them for two weeks, and Irisa was still reeling from it. She could still see Amanda’s crossed arms in her mind, feel her doubting gaze boring into their foreheads, hear the disappointment in her voice as she asked if they needed help. They hid their insecurities behind confident words, promising they could do it if they just had a little more time, but they walked out of Amanda’s office feeling like two kids who had just been scolded by the teacher and deserved it.

The night after that meeting with Amanda, they slumped into their chairs at the lawkeeper’s office feeling defeated, but quickly decided that they needed to funnel all of their energy into proving they deserved their jobs, and they did. Nearly a week after Amanda expressed her concerns over their abilities, they presented Amanda with their success and walked out of her office feeling like they could do no wrong. The world was theirs to conquer, but first they needed to celebrate.

They grinned as they uncorked a bottle of wine and hurled a few insults at each other in between bragging sessions about how they would be the best lawkeepers Defiance had ever seen. Even on their best days, they were unable to resist giving each other shtako, but it was a friendly banter that felt perfectly ordinary to Irisa.

But that ordinary feeling slowly began to change as the sun fell from the sky, and the wine flowed freely. Their inhibitions all but vanished, and the next thing Irisa knew, they were climbing to the highest balcony in the town to watch the sunrise somewhere they could be alone.

Alone above the silent town, it felt like they were the only people who lived there.

As Irisa toppled over, Berlin laughed, catching her and pushing her into an upright position, her hand lingering a moment too long on Irisa's bare arm, tracing her thumb along her pale markings. Irisa’s eyes focused on Berlin’s hands, silently willing them to keep moving further up her arm, but Berlin dropped her hands to her side before Irisa could believe any meaning behind Berlin’s gesture was anything other than a product of Irisa’s own fantasies.

Irisa tried to remind herself that they were drunk and riding a high from their success, that in two days everything would be back to normal and this night would be nothing more than a memory. It wouldn’t be long before Berlin was out on a date with the annoyingly handsome new deputy who Irisa had caught staring at Berlin on more than one occasion. He would be undoing Berlin’s ponytail and running his fingers through her long brown hair, not Irisa.

Irisa knew that the way Berlin was acting tonight was just how women were with their friends. She never had close female friends before and she would have to get used to it. She would have to get used to being touched like that without imagining her _friend’s_ hands running across every inch of her body.

This whole night, the weeks of getting closer, the months of tension so thick Irisa could barely stand it, all of it was just part of their complicated relationship finally settling into a real friendship, but it didn’t mean anything beyond that. She had to keep repeating that to herself.

Irisa didn’t want to be ungrateful. Friendship was a rare and valuable asset to her life that she would never take for granted. She knew she shouldn’t feel like she needed more from Berlin, but she couldn’t stop herself from wanting more.

Everytime she tried to convince herself that it was extraordinary that she could even consider herself Berlin’s friend after everything in their past, the devilish little voice in the back of her head told her that if she wanted a friend, she could walk into Amanda’s office any day or go play with Luke and Alak. They were the kind of people she could be friends with. They were sweet and kind and would be there for her if she needed them, but Berlin was the kind of person she could press against a wall and have her way with.

And that’s all she wanted.

The problem was that what Irisa wanted didn’t matter if Berlin didn’t want the same thing. Irisa didn't need to embarrass herself by pressing a kiss to Berlin’s lips when she already knew she would be pushed away. How could Berlin ever see her as anything other than a destroyer, a murderer, a liar? Irisa struggled daily not to see herself that way.

The bottle of wine that sat at Berlin's side had become Irisa's excuse for every touch, every glance, every smile that seemed to mean so much more than friendship from Berlin.

“Thank you for not letting me fall,” Irisa said, brushing her hand against Berlin’s shoulder, unsure how far she could push these little displays of intimacy. She half expected Berlin to pull away, but she didn't.

“Don't worry, I won't let you die just because you can't hold your alcohol,” Berlin said. “I’ve changed. I’m not the person I used to be.”

“You want me to give you credit for not passively letting me fall to my death?”

“Hey, I give you credit for not blowing up any cities lately. I think you can give me credit for that.”

“Fine,” Irisa said, rolling her eyes and patting Berlin on the shoulder. “Good job, Berlin.”

Berlin grinned like a student who had just been given an A on an assignment. “Thank you, Irisa.”

“You're welcome, but it doesn’t mean I’m letting you off the hook about this story,” Irisa said, grateful for a light hearted conversation to keep her mind on track. “You have to know that the princess kisses the prince, and then they live happily ever after. It’s supposed to have a romantic ending. It’s a fairy tale.”

Berlin took a swig from the bottle, shaking her head as she swallowed. “Fairy tale or not, I prefer my romance messier. You need tension and passion, someone who makes the princess reconsider what she thought she knew about love.”

Irisa laughed, turning to face Berlin. “And who would that be if not the prince with his perfect billowing hair, brown human eyes, and friendly smile?”

“I think you just described our new deputy,” Berlin said as she burst into a fit of drunken laughter so hard she almost toppled over and Irisa instinctively held her hand out to guard her. “What?” Berlin asked as she got herself under control. “You have a thing for him and these fairy tales are your self insert fantasy?”

Irisa rolled her eyes. “Trust me. The new deputy does nothing for me.”

“Exactly,” Berlin said. “And doesn’t that make this obvious? He doesn’t do anything for the princess either.” Berlin’s eyes glimmered with enthusiasm, but whatever was so obvious to Berlin was anything but obvious to Irisa. “She should have kissed the witch.”

“The witch?”

“Yeah, the witch. What’s more romantic, the witch and the princess start out as enemies, but as they get to know each other, they fall in love against all odds, or...” Berlin’s eyes drooped and her voice lost all its enthusiasm as she prepared to continue. “The princess sits around, completely helpless until some _man_ with a big sword rushes in to save her, and they get married even though they’ve never spoken a word? How am I supposed to believe that is love?”

“You’re so cynical,” Irisa said, grabbing the bottle out of Berlin’s hand and taking a swig.

“Maybe, but where’d you learn to be such a foolish romantic? I wouldn’t exactly expect you to be the type of person to defend bland old world love stories.”

“Blame Nolan. He’d never admit it, but he loved those silly fairy tales where everyone found their soulmates in the end. He used to tell them to me when I was a kid.” Irisa smiled as she remembered listening to him talk and wave his hands in the air during dramatic moments as they bounced along in their roller.

“Nolan a romantic?” Berlin arched her eyebrows in disbelief, but then she paused, staring into the distance. “Actually, that almost makes sense.”

“And the way Nolan told the stories, the princess always chose the prince because she really loved him, and he usually added a few extra fight scenes for her that I doubt we're in the original. I don't think the original Snow White ever got into a knife fight, but I never knew any weak princesses. They could all kick ass.”

“That’s actually kind of sweet,” Berlin said softly.

“Yeah.”

Silence fell between them and Irisa suddenly grew aware that Berlin was watching her intently, looking so deeply into her eyes that Irisa could hardly stand to meet her gaze.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Irisa finally asked, her heart beating faster as she asked what she had been wondering all night.

“Your eyes are amazing,” Berlin said, brushing Irisa’s hair out of her face.

“You’re drunk,” Irisa said, not knowing how to respond, not knowing if she should tell Berlin that her eyes were gorgeous, but not as gorgeous and her full round lips.

“Yes, but I’m an honest drunk.” Berlin placed her hand under Irisa’s chin, turning her head so that Irisa was forced to meet her gaze. “You have amazing eyes.”

Irisa’s heart was pounding in her chest, and her cheeks were blazing. No one had looked at her like this in so long. She had been starting to think no one ever would again.

“I’ve always thought your eyes were gorgeous,” Berlin continued. “Why do you think I spent so much time glaring at you when I was mad at you? I never could resist them.”

“They keep changing as I age,” Irisa said, still not knowing why she was deflecting Berlin’s advances. “They're less colorful than they used to be.” Five years ago, she would have had her pressed against the floor, ripping her clothes off by now.

“The color isn’t what’s amazing about them,” Berlin continued, her hand resting on Irisa’s thigh. “They’re the most expressive thing about you. You try so hard to hide what you feel from everyone, but your eyes give you away.”

“Bullshtak,” Irisa scoffed. “No one’s ever said that to me in my entire life.”

“That's because they don’t know you like I do.”

“You really think you know me that well?”

“Yeah, I do. At first, I couldn’t read you either, and it was infuriating, but now… I've been back in Defiance for months, and I have spent every day working with you, watching how you move, noticing how your eyes betray your thoughts no matter how composed you seem to be. I learned a lot about you once I figured out how to read your eyes.”

“And what did you learn?”

“That you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you,” Berlin said, looking into Irisa’s eyes expectantly.

“The sun’s coming up,” Irisa whispered. “The first rays of sun. That’s what we came here to watch, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Berlin whispered, their faces inches apart, their breathing slow and heavy.

“We’re going to miss it.”

“I don't care,” Berlin said, giving Irisa permission to do what she had been wanting to do all night. She wrapped one arm around Berlin’s back, pressing their bodies together as their wine-stained lips met. Clutching Berlin’s hair in her hands, Berlin melted against Irisa with a groan that sent Irisa’s hands reaching for the buttons of her shirt, not caring that they were outdoors, not caring that they could get caught.

This was their night, theirs alone.


End file.
